Big Christian bookseller pulls Mark Driscoll’s works from its shelves

A nationwide network of Christian bookstores has pulled books authored and coauthored by Mars Hill Church senior pastor Mark Driscoll from its shelves.

Mark Driscoll, senior pastor atf the Mars Hill Church. A major Christian bookseller has pulled his books off its shelves. (Photo: Wikimeida Commons)

“LifeWay stores and Lifeway.com are not selling Mark Driscoll’s books while we assess the developments of his ministry,” the chain’s chief publicist Marty King said in a statement.

The company has 180 LifeWay Christian stores and also sells books and other products online.

The statement was first sent to Warren Throckmorton at Patheos, a longtime Driscoll critic.

It was also circulated by Rob Smith, a former program director at Mars Hill who organized a demonstration of ex-members last week at the church. Smith is assembling charges against Driscoll expected to be released later this week.

The action followed by a day a decision by the Acts 29 evangelistic network to drop Driscoll and Mars Hill from membership. Driscoll is cofounder of Acts 29, which now embraces more than 500 churches around the world.

Mars Hill was deleted from the Acts 29 church director page for the state of Washington.

Seven directors of Acts 29, in a letter Friday, told Driscoll: ”Based on the totality of the circumstances, we are now asking you to please step down from ministry for an extended time and seek help.”

The loss of Lifeway could be a hit on Driscoll’s financial lifeblood. He has written or coauthored 15 books. Lifeway advertises itself as “one of the workd’s largest providers of Christian products and services.”

LifeWay is associated with the 16-million-member Southern Baptist Convention. A motion to stop selling Driscoll’s books was made at the Convention’s 2009 conference, but was not adopted.

Driscoll has come under fire from former Mars Hill members for bullying tactics, use of foul language, shunning dissident members and purging church leadership to consolidate power under himself and close associates.

But his books have caused controversy. Driscoll was taken to task on a Christian radio program for appropriating ideas and passages from another author. He retained a consulting firm to artificially pump up sales of his book Real Marriage — at the expense of the church — to get it on the New York Times bestseller list.

Driscoll has delivered a series of vaguely worded mea culpas, saying at one point it is impossible to be a “celebrity” and a pastor. He has promised to relinquish the former role and to concentrate on being a “loving pastor.”

Michael Van Skaik, chairman of the Mars Hill Board of Advisors and Accountability, on Friday upbraided Acts 29 for giving the boot to the church and its senior pastor.

The defense was revealing for what it acknowledges: ”There is clear evidence that the attitudes and behaviors attributed to Mark in the charges are not a part and have not been a part of Mark’s life for some time now,” Van Skaik argued.

As well, he admitted to bad news while professing upbeat news, saying: ”I told the lead pastors at the recent annual retreat that we are making real progress in addressing the serious reconciliation and unhealthy culture issues that have been a part of Mars Hill Church for way too long.”

Mars Hill Church was co-founded by Driscoll in 1996. With a combination of hip presentation, rock music and an ultraconservative male-centric theology, it grew to 15 churches in five different states. Driscoll found himself profiled in the New York Times Magazine.

But Driscoll is now being jettisoned by the evangelical community in which he was recently a major figure.